


our love was fate (so i stayed)

by chininiris



Series: Ashe Ship Week 2020 [4]
Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Alternate Universe - Gods & Goddesses, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Mythology References, aka the hades/persephone au nobody asked for but y'all getting anyway
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-15
Updated: 2020-11-15
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:20:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,521
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27568159
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chininiris/pseuds/chininiris
Summary: Yuri didn’t really mind how it used to be, empty and dead like the majority of those who dwell here, but the idea of having a piece of Ashe in Abyss when he returned to the surface was too lovely to pass up.He doesn’t regret it. Not when he looks out the windows of his study or their chambers and sees so much of Ashe embedded in this place, not when Ashe smiles so brightly when he returns to see how much his garden has thrived.For Ashe Ship Week Day 05:Flowers / Firsts
Relationships: Ashe Duran | Ashe Ubert/Yuris Leclair | Yuri Leclerc
Series: Ashe Ship Week 2020 [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2009125
Kudos: 19





	our love was fate (so i stayed)

**Author's Note:**

> Another entry for [Ashe Ship Week](https://twitter.com/asheshipweek)! I literally just finished writing this, so please, excuse any mistakes afkakfjhaj it's obligatory that I'll make some kind of Hades/Persephone for my favorite ships; I just really, really like the trope.
> 
> Title is from [MARINA - About Love](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lDhPjksqLQ). Enjoy!

The depths of the underworld are different from folk stories, different from what other gods say it is. Yuri walks through the dimly lit halls, footsteps echoing around him, louder than the whispers that come from spirits hiding in the shadows. He can't think of a time when the noise wasn't present, when the halls of the place he likes to call Abyss (it sounds so much better than  _ Underworld _ , in his opinion) were devoid of murmuring souls of those who passed away.

It’s a long walk until he reaches the end, the structure of his home gradually crumbling until there are only broken pillars and collapsed walls standing, leading to the vast expanse of the once empty courtyard. 

Unlike the halls, Yuri does remember a time when the courtyard was just a barren land made of dry, cracked earth, the fissures so deep and large that one was required to jump over them. For a god’s lifespan, it’s changed just recently, weeds and feeble-looking shrubs growing here and there over the past century until they spread and the whole of the courtyard was covered in grass. 

The grass mutes his footsteps as he walks to a small fenced area, the hums from his lover reaching his ears. Yuri stops by the entrance to observe as the other god tends to the herbs he managed to grow in this place through sheer stubbornness and dedication, plucking away at mint leaves and dropping them in a basket to be taken back inside.

Yuri walks into the soon-to-be vegetable garden, letting his footsteps fall heavier to announce his presence. The humming ceases, and his lover turns to greet him with a large smile and eyes greener than any plant in this courtyard. “Are you done with your tasks?”

“Not quite, but I decided to take a break and spend more time with you.” He offers his hands to Ashe, grasps them firmly and tugs him up to his feet, purposefully putting just enough strength into the pull that Ashe stumbles into his chest. 

Breathing out a laugh, Ashe cups his face and draws him into a kiss, smiling against his lips when Yuri winds his arms around his frame and traps him there. “I have to return to work,” Ashe attempts to say, but Yuri refuses to stop kissing him or to let him go.

“You’ve worked enough,” he counters, silencing him for another few seconds until Ashe tries to pull away again. “It’s fall. You’re on break.”

“This is the only time I get to work here.” Ashe allows Yuri to kiss him for some moments more before squirming, forcing Yuri to drop his arms with an over dramatic sigh. “Come on, don’t be like that! ¨The courtyard is improving so much.” 

Yuri hums, turning one lock of pale hair between his fingers. While he’d rather be kissing Ashe, he indulges him in this conversation either way. “That’s true. You’re doing amazing work here.”

Ashe laughs as a flush colors his cheek and slides his fingers along the side of his face to tuck his hair behind an ear. It’s done out of instinct, because Ashe has never been good at handling praise and the hair he’d been trying to brush away was already safely pinned behind his ear, and the gesture only makes Yuri smile at how endearing it is.

“Thank you, love.” Green eyes find his again, gently curved from the soft smile on Ashe’s lips. “The soil here has been more responsive to my powers these past two decades.”

Compared to how long it took for the first few stray weeds to grow here, the grass covered everything in minutes and the herbs grew in the blink of an eye. Yuri still remembers how much time Ashe used to spend here back in the beginning of their relationship, how he’d return to their chambers spent and nearly drained, having put so much of himself in his effort to make Abyss a more colorful and welcoming place. 

Yuri didn’t really mind how it used to be, empty and dead like the majority of those who dwell here, but the idea of having a piece of Ashe in Abyss when he returned to the surface was too lovely to pass up. 

Ah, he really was a lovesick fool when he let Ashe revitalize the area, because everything about them was new and beautiful and perfect and Yuri simply couldn’t tell him no... But his feelings have only grown since then, so now he’s a fully fledged lovesick idiot, still desperately in love with Ashe as if it still was day one of their relationship.

He doesn’t regret it. Not when he looks out the windows of his study or their chambers and sees so much of Ashe embedded in this place, not when Ashe smiles so brightly when he returns to see how much his garden has thrived.

In all honesty, Yuri is absolute shit when it comes to gardening, quick to kill any plant that’s put under his care despite Ashe’s best efforts to teach him, but Hapi doesn’t mind the work and looks after the herb garden in Ashe’s absence, finding the quiet work to be relaxing. 

Ashe reaches out and takes his hands, laces their fingers together and pulls him out of the fenced area. He talks about some of his plans for the garden as they walk, where he wants to put a gazebo, where he wants to plant roses and camellias and peonies, how beautiful it would look if they added a pond over there, perhaps accompanied by a mini waterfall and oh, maybe they could bring some fish from the surface? Ashe’s relationship with Flayn is friendly enough that she might help them. 

They stop where Ashe wants to make trees grow, a beautiful wooded area where they can relax and enjoy each other’s company away from prying eyes, and drops to his knees, urging Yuri to follow him down. The grass is taller here, reflecting how much of Ashe’s power was placed in this spot in his efforts to make trees grow, and he pulls the tall blades apart to uncover something.

On his knees, Yuri leans forward to get a better glimpse, lips parting when he spots bright purple blooms sprouting amidst the grass. They’re small, sure, but they’re flowers nonetheless, the first ones to have grown here. 

“Violets?” He’s overall terrible when it comes to recognizing flowers despite being Ashe’s partner for a century now, but Yuri can recognize his lover’s favorites from miles away.

Ashe nods, reaching down to touch the delicate petals with his fingertips. “I wasn’t planning on growing flowers until most of the trees had grown, so I was surprised to find them here. Pleasantly so.”

Perhaps it’s the sentimental part of him, that part of his being that loves Ashe so much it hurts, that says that violets growing in Abyss have a much bigger meaning, like a physical manifestation of Ashe’s love, like that one piece of him that Yuri wanted to have around when he was away on the surface for months at a time. 

Ashe’s hand retreats and Yuri takes it in his own, giving it a squeeze before lifting it up to kiss his knuckles gently. He doesn’t need to look to know that Ashe is blushing. “They’re lovely. Almost as much as you.” 

An embarrassed laugh comes from his lover, and Yuri turns towards him, leaning closer to his face and letting his eyelids fall half closed. “Stop, you’re making me blush.” 

“You look very cute like that, so I don’t see why I should stop.” Ashe makes a noise of embarrassment and ducks his head, hiding his face in Yuri’s shoulder. He laughs, running his fingers up and down his spine before pulling away. “Come on, we should go back inside. You picked the mint leaves so we could have tea, right?” 

Ashe nods, straightening up slowly. “B-But the ghosts...”

Yuri laughs again, a little louder this time, because for someone who courts the King of the Underworld, Ashe is terribly afraid of the spirits and shadows that live here. It’s no wonder he spends so much time out here rather than inside. “Don’t worry, my little bird, I’ll protect you.”

He stands, offering Ashe his hands and wiggling his fingers. From where he’s kneeling on the ground, Ashe looks up at him, still pink in the face, and reaches out, grasping both of Yuri’s hands with his own, smiling as he’s pulled to his feet. 

Really, the shadows are inoffensive, but Yuri rather likes how close Ashe stands when they’re walking through the halls after retrieving the basket of mint leaves. It’s the perfect excuse to loop an arm around his waist and pull him closer, to hear him sigh softly and lean further into his side, arm coming to rest around Yuri’s waist as well. 

It’s been a century, Yuri muses, thinking of the violets that have grown in his courtyard. Maybe it’s time he stops beating around the bush and makes Ashe a ruler of the Underworld, too. 

**Author's Note:**

> | [yuriashe playlist](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0OfM6V57iDzm6EU5URAXdC?si=-1h-RuptSsCWP9RvIpmO9g) | [tumblr](https://chininiris.tumblr.com/) | [twitter](https://twitter.com/chininiris) | [carrd](https://chininiris.carrd.com/) |


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